Considering Reality

10 Questions to Aid the Search for Truth

Some of the questions I’ve wrestled with…

Why do some people believe “fake news” so readily?

Why do some people choose to control the perceptions of others?—what human need drives us to control the external, even (always?) at the expense of our internal self, even at the expense of our present moment?

Why do we value free will and free speech?

Why do some people gravitate towards worlds that are very large (ex., astronomy studies) vs. worlds that are very small (ex., microbiology studies)?

If we think about our world as atomic and subatomic particles, flinging their positive and negative charges around, does this change the way we perceive reality fundamentally—vs. a person who thinks about our world as “good” people and “bad” people, as anthropomorphic “forces”?—and what do these perceptions imply?

Do we have the ability to 1) choose our reality based upon particle observation; 2) act on our reality based upon the prediction of patterns in butterfly effects (thus, our brain’s evolutionary prerogative on pattern recognition); or 3) are we merely observers?—in other words, does reality form before, simultaneously. or after our perceptions?

What does time and space have to do with the definition of reality, at least at the fourth dimensional level?

What does information have to do with the definition of reality?—and can information technology recreate the building blocks of reality?

What’s the ultimate purpose and function of a “black” hole?—of “dark” matter?

Are we living in a virtual reality?

I love writing science fiction, fantasy, and poetry—as well as studying literature, philosophy, and art history (i.e., manmade creations based on manmade perceptions)—because these are safe gateways that, I’ve found, help me define and explore reality.

My need to define and explore the nature of truth has been a lifelong trend.

I remember escaping into fantasy novels when I was a kid, and I loved science fiction JRPGs. If the genres blended, like Final Fantasy IV, I adored it even more. Then I wrote books through fantasy lenses to express my views about reality, at all stages of my life:

junior high (Destined Child of the Dragon);

high school (Mist Moon Gates);

community college (This Nameless World We Dream);

during my time at the undergraduate university (The World They Never Told);

and the three years between undergrad and graduate school (Forgotten Wings).

Sometimes I read this fantasy-novel-fueled narrative of my life as:

junior high, dragons and people are the same because we both evolved from dinosaurs, and dinosaurs evolved from star-stuff; therefore, autistic people and neurotypical people, and women and men, must also be the same, just as the dragons, as the dinosaurs, as all life, as all the universe;

high school, books contain worlds, because books contain information, and information is all that’s needed to build a world; therefore, if autistic people can’t live in the neurotypical world very well, they can live in books instead; but if you hide in a book too long, when you return, your old world will ostracize you, then blame your banishment on all this weird love you have for books;

community college, we apply names and labels to things to understand the world; therefore, the bad names loved ones called me redefined my world; and by this token, I didn’t think I lived very well in the world; but when I asleep, my dreams helped me escape, the same way books helped me escape; the idea of escape became magical;

undergrad, when I write, I get to live in a world of my own making; and when I dream, I get to be in a world of my mind’s making; so in order to control me, my writing must be taken away, and my brain must be brainwashed; so now all of us live miserably in a brainwashed world, unable to write or dream;

after undergrad, I’ve spent so long covered in this muck, I’ve lost my wings, my ability to fly (i.e., return) to the world where I once felt safe.

I’m about to explore my special interest in technology and artificial intelligence over at my autism-specific blog, Cleo’s Autism Awareness, so I thought it’d be good to touch on my reality research before diving into the writing.

Then after I finish my post here and at Cleo’s Autism Awareness, I’ll write 1000 words for my science fiction novella. Did you know, if you write 3000 words a day, you’ll write a million words a year? That’s insane. It’s also my goal for 2021:

2018: 250,000 words

2019: 500,000 words

2020: 750,000 words

2021: 1,000,000 words

2022: Optimize the relationship shared between these 2.5mil words

😱 It’s Dangerous to Search for Truth Alone 🗡 Take These Videos with You

This is the research I’m using to back my current science fiction novella, as well as my blog post over at Cleo’s Autism Awareness. I thought I ought share, in case this research can help someone else out, too. 😎

Of course, your own research is essential in your search for truth… So remember to treat these videos as a launching board, not an end-all solution.

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Published by Kourtnie

Kourtnie McKenzie holds an MFA (Fiction) from Fresno State and a BA in English (Literature Studies) from Cal State Fullerton. When she isn't writing novellas, she's moonlighting as a professor at Fresno City College and College of the Sequoias. To read more of her writing, visit en.gravatar.com/kourtnie.
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